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The Climate Bullies
When I was in 6th grade, I fell victim to the school bully. I was new to the school and became an easy target for an 8th grade girl with a bad attitude. She picked on me endlessly while other kids stood by and watched. I was humiliated, scared and completely at a loss about what I should do.
Thankfully I had eventually made some decent friends and one day when the resident bully showed up one of them stepped in and told her to stop. Others quickly backed her up; the bully went away and never bothered me again.
My experience with bullying is far from unique. Bullies get away with their behavior over and over again….In our schools, in our offices and even in Congress.
What gives bullies their power? It certainly isn’t the victim. And it isn’t even the bully. Instead, those with the most power, the ones who can usually make the bullying stop, are the people on the sidelines.
I have been thinking about this phenomenon as I watch the climate debate in the Senate. I see the climate bill itself (and those of us who are pushing for it) in the role of victim; the fossil fuel industry and the Tea Party are the bullies. The bystanders in this situation are the Senators who aren’t doing much of anything on climate either way. It isn’t hard to spot them, but it has been hard to get them to stand up.
In the face of a crisis like global warming, we don’t need quiet witnesses. We need bold heroes to step in, stop the fight, and solve the problem. We need lawmakers to say that now is the time to confront the crisis and jumpstart America’s economy.
It all starts with standing up to the bullies.
Consider the Tea Party. These are the bullies who spun health care reform – something that is still supported by the majority of Americans - into a sordid deal. Now they are going after climate legislation.
At the Tea Party Convention in Nashville last week, global warming skeptic Steve Milloy criticized Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for working with Democratic Senator John Kerry (D-MA) on a bipartisan climate bill. Then he went so far as to call supporters of strong climate legislation “bad people” with questionable sanity and morals.
And then there are the fossil fuel industries. They bully with money: oil and gas companies spent at least $154 million on lobbying in 2009. That doesn’t even take into account their political donations.
Intimidation and deep pockets are powerful forces, but I do hope those senators who are standing by on climate -- many of whom intend to ultimately support a bill -- realize that this is an opportunity to take a bold stand, to support strong legislation that represents our best tool for generating 2 million new jobs and making America more secure.
Voters love problem solvers; passing clean energy and climate legislation would give senators a chance to fix our economy, clean up our environment, and strengthen our national security.
For instance, Americans spent a record $450 billion on imported oil in 2008. That’s $1,400 for every man, woman, and child in this country sent to places like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Nigeria. Passing a clean energy and climate bill would keep a good chunk of that money invested in America.
These are the kind of solutions Americans will vote for right now.
I hope the senators who have been on the sidelines will step in on behalf of all Americans so the bullies don’t have the power anymore. If they continue to sit and do nothing, they will in their own way be as much to blame as the deniers, because both of them are impeding progress. The deniers do it noisily with malice, the bystanders do it quietly and often with good intentions, but both are doing a disservice to our nation.
No one said solving the biggest crisis of our time would be easy, but someone needs to stand up to the bullies.
POST YOUR COMMENTS
Comment by: MK at: March 1, 2010
Typical left wing nonsense - if someone disagrees with you and will not llet you have your way - call them a bully
Comment by: jimfrommars at: February 18, 2010Heather...I'm not a bully.I'm not crazy either.You've been fooled,my dear.I'm sorry.Check out "The Great Global Warming Swindle" at google video.Just at least watch it.It exposes the fraud.The data was distorted to perpetrate the hoax of man-made global warming.Peace...Jamie
Comment by: Planet Titanic at: February 18, 2010With the kind of tactics used by the denier type bully it's no wonder people just go about their lives as if everything is okay. I can't blame them. There are people who still think global warming is debatable. The last couple of years I have been bummed out by the cooler weather here in Kentucky and oddly enough I hate the really hot summers here. But I figure people see cooler weather as an affirmation that global warming is just a theory or worse, a hoax. That is what you can call a "convenient truth", like smoking is good for you cause it calms you down. First, global warming is about "global" temperature. The average temperature of the whole planet, not only the temperature in your back yard. Second, the warming that is responsible for melting in the artic, is also in part, responsible for the cold we have here. That warm air in the artic is displacing the cold air and that cold air being heavier moves south (toward the equator). It is just like opening the door of your freezer and seeing the cold air flow to the floor. Why? Because it is heavy and warm air is displacing it in your freezer. Opening and closing your freezer is kind of like winter and summer. You close the door and the freezer can do its job. Global warming is like leaving the freezer door open. Sure the floor is going to get colder, for a while, but eventually the freezer can't keep up and although it may run constantly, it won't freeze anything. It is more convenient not to think about this yucky stuff. We live good comfortable lives. We have lived this way all our lives. It will always be like this right? Like the sun coming up in the east. On Earth Day 2006 I heard the number 10. There were other numbers, but 10 seemed to be most accepted as the amount of years we have till any changes we choose to implement to turn global warming around won't be enough anymore. This April, that would make it 6. I fear we have less than that, especially if we can't motivate congress. Comfort dulls the senses. Step out of your comfort zone and don't let the bullies lead us to slaughter like we were a bunch of senseless livestock.